


In Which Korra is Unhappy and Asami Helps Out

by jorlau



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Disability, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 01:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2250126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jorlau/pseuds/jorlau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for the end of Book 3.</p>
<p>Korra hates how helpless Zaheer's poison has rendered her, and somehow Asami seems to be the only person who really understands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Which Korra is Unhappy and Asami Helps Out

Avatar Korra was sulking, loudly and violently, and feeling very sorry for herself. She had been informed, gently but firmly, that she could not begin walking, practicing her bending, or otherwise overexerting herself for another three months at least, and very likely longer. Worse, when she protested the unfairness of this, Katara had smiled indulgently and explained that temper tantrums would only wear Korra out and delay her recovery and that if she really wanted to get better more quickly she had better refrain from exerting herself in any way at all for the next several months.

Under normal circumstances Korra would have stormed out in high dudgeon at this point, but her ability to do even that was limited by the need to have Katara help her back into her wheelchair and by the weakness in her arms that prevented her even wheeling herself out quickly. She tried it and got caught on the doorframe, necessitating further intervention from Katara. This was the last straw, and as soon as she was rightly out the door Korra applied her airbending skills to flee into her room, where she further broke the prohibition on self-exertion by breathing a stream of fire that crisped the window curtains. Then she settled down to fume about the injustice of the world.

"Hey, Korra."

The Avatar jumped and wheeled awkwardly around to see her friend Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries, racecar driver and brilliant engineer, standing in the doorway. Korra had apparently failed to hear Asami's entrance over the sound of her own inner monologue; or perhaps, she thought gloomily, the poison had weakened her hearing as well as everything else. She scowled a welcome.

"Hi, Asami."

The scowl did not appear to faze Asami, who looked at Korra calmly and without any sign of noticing her ferocious mood. Korra found this distinctly annoying and turned away again as Asami spoke.

"Hey, I'm going to go test-drive the newest model of Satomobile, and I could use a second opinion. Do you want to come?"

Korra hesitated, torn between interest in the Satomobile, suspicion that Asami was only making the offer out of pity, the aching need for some kind of distraction, and reluctance to abandon a perfectly good blue funk when she had just gotten into the groove of it. Asami waited. Finally, the restlessness won, and Korra wheeled slowly back around.

"All right. Let's go."

Asami's face lit with a smile so dazzling, Korra almost forgot to be annoyed about needing help getting ready to leave.

* * *

It was a really cool car, Korra thought, though probably drivers less skilled than Asami Sato would not be able to squeeze the dramatic performance out of it that she could. Asami could drive like an avenging angel, fast and daring, calculating her turns, accelerations and decelerations with such precision that had Korra had any less faith in the other girl's ability she would certainly have overexerted herself by screaming with terror. As it was, she found it exhilarating, and found she could almost forget the dull pain that permeated her body in the thrill of the ride.

It was only once — looking at Asami and thinking vaguely that the car and its driver seemed almost fused into one sleek, powerful, beautiful mechanical being and how could anyone be so perfectly in tune with a non-living thing? — that Korra met Asami's eyes and realized with a flash of fear that the driver's attention was actually divided between the road and Korra's fragile health. Asami stopped the car and leaned towards Korra.

"Trust me," she said, and winked. Then they were off again faster than before, and Korra — who had just begun to feel sorry for herself and to be angry at Asami for reminding her of her condition again — yelped and laughed, and somehow it was all right again.

* * *

The test drive was only the beginning. Asami took Korra out next on an experimental airship, then in another new kind of Satomobile that was less flashy but still exciting when Asami was driving it, then just out for a drive, then for another. Then somehow she was visiting nearly every day, often taking Korra out for a ride or to see something interesting, and on days when Asami _didn't_ come Korra's mood turned stormy and she growled at anyone who approached her.

Korra was not sure at first why Asami was so much less infuriating, on average, than her other friends. Gradually, though, she realized that Asami neither fussed over her and made a big deal of helping her do everything, as Mako did, nor made tactless remarks that reminded her of things she was unable or forbidden to do, as Bolin did. (Not being as exhausting to be around as Meelo and Ikki or as slow-paced as an adult helped, too.) Asami attended Korra as automatically and casually as though it were completely to be expected that someone might wake up in the morning and be suddenly unable to manage chopsticks, or as though everyone occasionally needed to be lifted into or out of a wheelchair. She seemed to know intuitively when to offer help and when not to, and how to make the offer without condescending or making it seem like a big deal. On top of that, she knew how to keep Korra from being bored out of her mind, which was amazing because Korra didn't.

So the two girls spent more and more time together, until in the end, Korra was quietly packed off to stay with Asami and out of everyone else's hair while the preparations for Jinora's initiation went on, and even after Jinora and most of the Air Nomads had gone about their new duties nobody talked of changing Korra's living situation again. Korra felt happier when she realized that the topic was not likely to come up. (She then got angry with herself for feeling happy when she was so pitiably ill and frail and generally unlike her own ideal. This restored balance in the world, or at least her view of it, which made her happier again, but for allowable reasons this time.)

* * *

 

It was about a month after Jinora's initiation that things changed again. They had joined Mako and Bolin on a trip to Air Temple Island and the two of them were resting on the grass after a particularly exciting match of Pai Sho between Asami and the perpetually-hopeful Bolin (whose hopes Asami had once again mercilessly crushed). Korra was lounging, sulking, and playing with a blade of grass, Asami sitting beside her watching her. The source of Korra's sulk of the moment was Bolin,who had made a careless remark about pro bending and his apology that brought in three things Korra was unable to do and included a reference to Toph that Korra had taken as an implication of Korra's inferiority. (Not that Korra didn't consider herself inferior to Toph on general principle, but she maintained that Bolin had no right to _agree_ with her, at least not out loud.) Asami considered Korra carefully, trying to decide how to defuse this.

"You can't take Bolin personally," Asami pointed out after a decent interval. "He is _Bolin_ , after all." 

Korra sighed. "I know. I just hate that he reminds me of how _weak_ I am. It's not as bad as Mako coddling me, but—" 

"I know," said Asami. 

"I hate being weak!" Korra burst out. "I hate not being able to do anything for myself and feeling like I'm a burden on everyone all the time! I'm the Avatar, people are supposed to be burdens on _me_!" 

"You're not a burden," Asami protested, wisely deciding not to comment on the Avatar's new job description. "You need people to help you right now, that's all. It's perfectly all right to need help. Everyone does, even if they _are_ the Avatar. Look at how many people helped Aang end the war!" 

"It's not the SAME!" Korra snapped. "Aang had help, but he carried his own weight. I need that stupid wheelchair to carry mine, and I can't even get into it without you lifting me!" 

"So what?" Asami's voice was calm. "I like helping you. We all do, when you're not biting our heads off. That's what friendship _is_. We help you because we want to, and right now you need it. You'd do the same if it were the other way around." 

Korra went very moodily silent. Something about Asami's words seemed to have made her even more unhappy, and after a moment, Asami realized that the Avatar was crying. 

"Korra—" Asami hesitated, then moved closer and held out her arms to offer a hug. "I'm sorry, what did I say?" 

Korra didn't answer for a very long moment. Then she in turn held out her arms and Asami moved forward to embrace her and pat her back, still confused. Korra shuddered and buried her face in Asami's shoulder for a second, then suddenly pulled back and kissed her hard on the mouth. 

A strange sound made them both jump and look around. Mako was standing on the path nearby, staring at them with a thunderstruck expression. 

"Wha—bu—I—" he stuttered. 

"Oh, uh, hey Mako!" Korra floundered in tones of awkward desperation. "Didn't see you there. Uh...." 

"What are you _doing_?" Mako managed, sounding genuinely bewildered. 

"Uh... kissing... Asami?" Korra's voice was tinged with uncertainty, as though she thought she might not have really kissed Asami and was now hoping to find out for sure. 

"But—you—I thought—I mean, you both went out with me so—" Mako went on in confusion. 

"Uh... yeah?" said Korra, glancing at Asami pleadingly. 

This was too much, and Asami began to laugh uncontrollably. She wasn't sure whether it was Korra's anxious expression, Mako's obvious shock, the awkward exchange of obvious facts that neither Mako nor Korra seemed to see the absurdity of, or all of these things taken in combination, but whatever the reason she couldn't stop laughing. Korra soon joined in, and so they were both howling with laughter when Bolin arrived, out of breath, to say that dinner was ready and to come on because he was _really_ hungry and what was so funny? Mako promptly took advantage of his brother's arrival to flee, and Bolin trotted after him wondering aloud why everyone was acting strange, and Korra and Asami were alone again. 

"Let's go," Asami said, offering Korra a lift into the wheelchair. "We'll talk later." 

"Sure," said Korra, reaching up automatically to allow Asami to pull her up. "Uh... Asami...." 

Asami smiled and kissed Korra quickly on the cheek. Korra said nothing more, but she smiled back, and Asami knew she was making space in her worldview for another reason to be happy. 


End file.
